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Fugu prices rise in autumn and peak in winter, the best season, because they fatten to survive the cold. Live fish arrive at a restaurant, surviving in a large tank, usually prominently displayed. Prepared fugu is also often available in grocery stores, which must display official license documents. Whole fish may not be sold to the general public.
The northern puffer, Sphoeroides maculatus, is a species in the family Tetraodontidae, or pufferfishes, found along the Atlantic coast of North America. [2] Unlike many other pufferfish species, the flesh of the northern puffer is not poisonous, although its viscera can contain poison, [1] [2] and high concentrations of toxins have been observed in the skin of Floridian populations.
Species of puffer fish (the family Tetraodontidae) are the most poisonous in the world, and the second most poisonous vertebrate after the golden dart frog.The active substance, tetrodotoxin, found in the internal organs and sometimes also the skin, paralyzes the diaphragm muscles of human victims, who can die from suffocation.
A puffer's neurotoxin is not necessarily as toxic to other animals as it is to humans, and puffers are eaten routinely by some species of fish, such as lizardfish [15] and sharks. [ 16 ] Puffers are able to move their eyes independently, and many species can change the color or intensity of their patterns in response to environmental changes.
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin.Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an order that includes pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin.
The fish's main defense is the neurotoxin contained in its internal organs, mainly the ovaries and the liver, to a lesser extent in the intestines and the skin, and only minute amounts in the muscles and blood. This makes the fugu a lethal meal for most predators, including the occasional human.
They may attack humans by biting them when threatened. So in the wild and in aquarium, it's a dangerous fish which are both aggressive against both humans and other aquarium fishes. However, it's not as aggressive and dangerous towards humans as Feroxodon Multistriatus aka the Ferocious Puffer and Fang's Puffer (P. cochinchinensis)
The grass puffer is often caught off beaches, docks, and piers using various baits such as worms, shrimp, sea lice, or cut fish. They are popular for children to catch and even popular as pets, but their intestines contain the extremely potent pufferfish poison tetrodotoxin which is potentially lethal to humans.